Delicious Italy

Savvy Venice - you must be joking!

We received an email from SavvyTravel based in London asking to swap links. 

A very precise request as the website wanted a link from a food tour related page in return for a link to their Venice shopping page.

All we can say is that when we read the SavvyTravel Venice comments on eating out in the lagoon city, we naturally declined.

Their page begins 'Venice is a great city - pity about the food'.

From their point of view the reference is strictly to the well beaten track around Saint Marks and there is some truth here.

But the overall tone is to suggest it's not even worth trying to discover the rich cuisine of the city because, in effect, it does not exist anymore.

And even if you do you'll be massively out of pocket.

According to SavvyTravel Venice, and the all too clear image in the left column of the page, you'd be better off at Burger King!

How ungenerous.

What is the scope of this website and on whose experience are these opinions based.

We want names.

www.travelsavvy-venice.com/eatingout

Lemon crush

Further to our first post about the new James Bond film being filmed by Lake Garda, it seems  not everything is going to plan.

Not only was a 250K Aston Martin DBS driven into the Lake on its way to the shoot location, but a couple of stunt men also escaped unhurt from another smash only yesterday.

Well, at least they do these things for real like in the old days. No CGI effects here, mate.

Also about this time of the year the annual stats come out telling us where the most dangerous roads in Italy are located. 

If even stuntmen are crashing high performance cars you may think the B roads around Lake Garda might be among them, but alas.

The most dangerous roads include the Pontina south of Rome and the Venice-Marghera by-pass.   

You will need one this spring near Lake Garda.

Croatia - land of truffles, fine wine and olive oil

'Croatia - land of white truffles, fine wine and olive oil'.

Not exactly, but the actual pay off line being used by the Croatian national tourism board is a lot more subtle in relation to their neighbour just over the Adriatic Sea.

That's Italy by the way.

The actual line is 'The Mediterranean As it Once Was' and it is a statement full of intent. 

But it is the Croatia Tourism Food ad which really sits up and looks you straight in the eyes

In particular the line our gastronomic friend in the spot relishes saying: 'the wine produced in Croatia was so good, it was considered the best in the Roman Empire'. 

http://press.croatia.hr/video%5Farhiva/

No April Fool

We thought this was an April Fool, but apparently not.

The Regione Lazio has decided to come out fighting against the recent buffalo mozzarella scare by distancing itself from its Campania cousins.         

The buffalo mozzarella produced south of Rome, typically in the province of Latina, is to be rebranded as 'Collosella' with obvious references to gladiators and lions.

Apparently, 10% of all buffalo mozzarella is made in Lazio.

If we can make a couple of observations.

Firstly, in our humble opinion, the Italian buffalo mozzarella industry should be closing ranks and putting together a concerted Pr and advertising campaign for the benefit of all.

Secondly, branding and marketing initiatives need to be treated with great care and not a little prior research. What is the image of buffalo mozzarella abroad today?  Does anyone care where buffalo mozzarella is made in Italy? Is 'Collosella' the right communication? 

Osella by the way is a famous brand of cheese from Piemonte distributed across Italy. What do they think?

www.fattorieosella.it

Toxic BBC mozzarella sample

We always refer first to the BBC to add a certain measured perspective to a newsworthy argument.

The media organization's summary of the mozzarella case in Italy is as succinct, up to date and hysteria free as it gets with some useful institutional links.

But 'Tainted Love - How Italy's highly-prized mozzarella turned sour' by journalist Stephanie Holmes seems to us a lazy, hatchet job.

Lets take it apart.

Tainted Love -  reference to a 1980's Soft Cell song of dubious content. Why?

How Italy's 'white gold' turned sour - white gold! so Italy loses its gastronomic Midus touch?

Like the cholera outbreak that hit Naples in 1972 - selective and inappropriate quotation.

Choosy Italian consumers have been turning their noses up at the product - since when? who are they? A gross exaggeration and sweeping statement.

Regardless of how many mouthfuls of the stuff are eagerly swallowed by smiling ministers - the world over Stephanie, the world over!

But the European Commission is taking no chances - of course. As the piece says, it is a highly regulated EU product. Normal par for the course and consumers would not expect otherwise.

That's the first half of the article and, to be fair, the second half resets the balance, but the damage has been done.

Anyone scanning the article quickly receives a concentration of cliched verbal and visual communication nurturing prejudices and exaggeration.

The last thing small family buffalo mozarella cheese makers in Italy need and deserve. 

FAI - 16th Spring Event

The XVI Edition of the FAI Spring Days takes place on the 5th and 6th April 2008.

FAI or 'Fondo Per L'Ambiente Italiano' is a non profit organization who do good work highlighting and protecting the artistic and natural heritage or patrimony of the country and regions.

An equivalent would be the National Trust based in the UK.

The doors will be open in all 550 FAI locations in 240 Italian cities during the weekend.

An dedicated area in the FAI website is worth a visit to find out where.

www.fondoambiente.it

Global Mozzarella

We read today that Paul Samuelson, the US Nobel for Economics, suggested that globalization is not a little responsible for the current export problems of buffalo mozzarella in the Far East.

There was a time when there was no such such thing as bad publicity, but it seems this is no longer the case and it's an interesting thought.

It seems the image of Italy abroad is taking a battering at the moment, but how much is true and how much deserved?

We can only comment on first hand experience.

In February, we went to Venice. During our time there news was circulating in the US, then elsewhere, that the water level of the lagoon was so low that gondolas could not circulate and a rare breed of insect was infecting the local population and tourists.

What a load of old cobblers. And double cobblers to boot.

The level of the lagoon was certainly lower than normal, but all very normal. So where did this report originate from?

Some say an anti mass tourist lobby in Venice had launched the news. Who knows?

But such was the take up by the world's press that many small family run hotels suddenly found they had canceled rooms on their books in a difficult start to the year.

It seems disinformation can be utilized to great effect. Political disinformation, we know all about, but economic? How interesting.

Wasn't there a run on food in Italy before Christmas?

Mike Barrett's Travel Guides

Our Greece contact Mike Barrett has suggested a new video to promote the country. 

You can view it at Mike's dedicated Greece Travel Guide.

The site www.greecetravel.com is a comprehensive personal compilation of all the Greek sites that matter for anyone considering a visit and by somebody who lives there.

Do read Mike's introduction on the homepage and, as its Easter, here is Mike's page on Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday.

My Brother is an Only Child

It would be great if you could help us with our release of MY BROTHER. Our release date is April 4th and please do put me in touch with your uk team. Let me know if there is anything we can do - Revolver Entertainment, London

The Revolver Group, UK
"My Brother is an Only Child” - a film by Daniele Luchetti's. UK release date 4th April 2008   

Greece - the true experience

If you haven't seen the latest television advert for the  Greek National Tourism Organisation then make sure you do.

Launched together with a new logo and the 'Greece - the true experience' tag line, its a real gem. 

Above all it manages to combine the old and the new and seamlessly suggests Greece as a destination for both urban backpackers and off the beaten track oldies.      

It builds on the previous 'Follow Your Senses' and 'Live Your Myth' ads which now seem like works in progress to today's real deal.

Above all, it communicates a positive image of the country with essential values which will take Europe forward. 

Respect.